Analyse how Stevenson uses setting atmosphere and characters to help the reader interpret a sense of danger, threat and horror.

Authors Avatar

Analyse how Stevenson uses setting atmosphere and characters to help the reader interpret a sense of danger, threat and horror.

The story of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written in the Victorian times. The Author of this book was Robert Louis Stevenson. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde originated from a dream that Robert Louis Stevenson once had. Upon waking he recalled ‘a fine bogey tale’ and immediately set about writing it down. When Robert Louis Stevenson had completed writing the book, he showed his wife who said that the novel lacked allegory this meant that the story didn’t have enough ‘Good against Evil’ this enraged Stevenson who threw it into the fire and started again. He wrote for 6 days non stop and recreated a better and improved version.

Laudanum was a wildly popular drug during the Victorian era. It was an opium-based painkiller prescribed for everything from headaches to tuberculosis. Victorian nursemaids even spoon fed the drug to cranky infants, often leading to the untimely deaths of their charges.

Originally, Laudanum was thought of as a drug of the working class. As it was cheaper than gin it was not uncommon for men and woman to binge on laudanum after a hard week's work. Use of the drug spread rapidly. Doctors of the time prescribed it for almost every aliment. Many upper-class women developed habits.

Laudanum is a drug which Stevenson used to take which would help him sleep and relax; this may have influenced his dreams a little, and gave him the idea of using the drug on Jekyll.

Another aspect which was said to have inspired Stevenson was Deacon Brodie, Deacon Brodie was a fine young man who was respectable and was often invited to dinners and parties, he would then look where all the doors and windows were and come back at night and burglar them, Once he was caught trying to steal something and he fled to Europe where he was caught and brought back and sent to the very Gallows that he helped improve.

Mr Utterson is the narrator of the book. A middle-age lawyer, he is someone that all the characters confide in throughout the novel. As an old friend of Jekyll, he recognizes the changes and strange occurrences that center around both Jekyll and Hyde. He is perhaps the most cautious, respected, and wise character in the book.

Join now!

Richard Enfield is Mr. Utterson¹s cousin, a younger man who is assumed to be slightly wilder than his more respectable and calm cousin.

Dr Lanyon is a former friend and colleague of Dr. Jekyll. Ten years before the events in the novel, he broke his friendship with Dr. Jekyll because of a disagreement over scientific happenings. This doctor is highly respected and wise, someone who values the truth and goodness above all else.

Dr. Henry Jekyll is a prominent middle-age doctor. Throughout the novel, he is physically described as both tall and handsome. He is also extremely ...

This is a preview of the whole essay